cult film freak: england

Showing posts with label england. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 10/31/2022 / No comments / england , john hurt , leo mckern , nigel davenport , orson welles , paul scofield , religion , sixties , susannah york

PAUL SCOFIELD IN 'A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS' WITH ORSON WELLES

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWmSjpLLarm_Pf75axWeFOeqsu6qAjLh-TrU5vH9VU2HL3rmAVzviYZ_Pnnij7XHGLL5AcYYy_PhGFPZd3amj3icqFdKzwsprK3qSeNqVS8Fbz1eByQ848mAkIjD1e5C1VHjb-gdvYJYoi6D4j1sFEsrpeQcElvy9cMius32CM2C4fSD5rFMplWOVEQ/s1344/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-02%20at%204.37.01%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWmSjpLLarm_Pf75axWeFOeqsu6qAjLh-TrU5vH9VU2HL3rmAVzviYZ_Pnnij7XHGLL5AcYYy_PhGFPZd3amj3icqFdKzwsprK3qSeNqVS8Fbz1eByQ848mAkIjD1e5C1VHjb-gdvYJYoi6D4j1sFEsrpeQcElvy9cMius32CM2C4fSD5rFMplWOVEQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-02%20at%204.37.01%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Year: 19566</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play 
was probably that of Joseph Cotten's Jeb Leland, a man so determined, honest, 
and stubborn, he doesn't have many rooting for him, but instead, the sympathy goes to the flawed leading man... <br>
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Far from the lead, Welles makes an appearance here as a perplexed Cardinal in the Oscar Winning A MAN FOR ALL 
SEASONS, kickstarting an accusation that would lead to the death of the titular 
priest who would not bend for anyone, not even the King of England... the infamous Henry the XIII... who,
 played by Robert Shaw, has a voracious laugh as rich as fool's gold... <br>
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england, john hurt, leo mckern, nigel davenport, orson welles, paul scofield, religion, sixties, susannah york

PAUL SCOFIELD IN 'A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS' WITH ORSON WELLES

Orson Welles in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Year: 19566 Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play was probably that ...

JOHN WAYNE CRASHES LONDON FOR THE COP FLICK 'BRANNIGAN'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysTaf0rcTIWtZxIkT2WNDGoknrzdPSXVsHr0zWcsDlSRIToRIFtTS7YwiZRIf7F9u8th59o0PcQVOV1tmoPlAxmeLTenJO_fwzQonk0hDOTVo6eap6nQrG8kgpLjzgEJ-someybgZArqZMNC69KClOkQ4n6TlNrwaThyMBRLAvT2t6MR1ZiqXu3mE-w/s954/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-16%20at%206.09.44%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysTaf0rcTIWtZxIkT2WNDGoknrzdPSXVsHr0zWcsDlSRIToRIFtTS7YwiZRIf7F9u8th59o0PcQVOV1tmoPlAxmeLTenJO_fwzQonk0hDOTVo6eap6nQrG8kgpLjzgEJ-someybgZArqZMNC69KClOkQ4n6TlNrwaThyMBRLAvT2t6MR1ZiqXu3mE-w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-16%20at%206.09.44%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Wayne in BRANNIGAN Year: 1975 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After supposedly passing up DIRTY HARRY, John Wayne made two tough cop films (tough films about tough cops) and this is the last as the first is <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/03/mcq-john-wayne.html">McQ</a>, a Seattle detective who stays put while <i>this</i> Chicago lawman is sent to England to pick up a hometown gangster, his constant rival... <br>
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<span class="_mh6 _wsc" id="cch_f18e85997ba47bc"><span class="_3oh- _58nk">Though more along the lines of BULLITT than either of the two HARRY flicks, BRANNIGAN isn't as much a police procedural, instead mostly centering on the <i>stranger in a strange land</i> premise, but without following the usual fish-outta-water tropes since he gets adjusted to this new country's rules... like no handguns... by simply not following them... and he's never really effected by the colorful foreign surroundings visible from riding shotgun in an unmarked vehicle driven by pretty female sidekick Judy Geeson...</span></span><br>
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action, barry dennen, cop, del henney, douglas hickox, england, james booth, john vernon, john wayne, judy geeson, kathryn leigh scott, mel ferrer, richard attenborough, seventies, thriller, twilight time

JOHN WAYNE CRASHES LONDON FOR THE COP FLICK 'BRANNIGAN'

John Wayne in BRANNIGAN Year: 1975 Rating: **** After supposedly passing up DIRTY HARRY, John Wayne made two tough cop films (tough films a...

JOHN LANDIS UNLEASHES 'AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwV5p3Mx_OIIC5tNvhU9ZsAZWsFzw9f2H4g40xrQMSIFqqs9rTvY588h-zTpxzqfjJJ0BAQuxWUd34fNi63DBp9WApRY0ln7LzPFOQ-80WEt_Y3vPgJsU64Cr_Y8AaDyaPhQJL8u48iNVS8kc0owVdYkvaUUvXl7gVjdwG-bzWTMHWthe2a8M1T_L6SHb/s1170/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-23%20at%201.32.20%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwV5p3Mx_OIIC5tNvhU9ZsAZWsFzw9f2H4g40xrQMSIFqqs9rTvY588h-zTpxzqfjJJ0BAQuxWUd34fNi63DBp9WApRY0ln7LzPFOQ-80WEt_Y3vPgJsU64Cr_Y8AaDyaPhQJL8u48iNVS8kc0owVdYkvaUUvXl7gVjdwG-bzWTMHWthe2a8M1T_L6SHb/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-07-23%20at%201.32.20%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Year: 1981 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Shame there were such bland DVD covers after years that finally made AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON a cult phenomenon: Like the howling wolf with Big Ben pasted cheaply behind; <i>still</i> the best image is the original: Two hikers beneath a full <i>blue moon</i>, spooked by what's unseen... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Enter the perfectly suited David Naughton as David 
Kessler, whose idea it was to hike the English Moors in-step with reluctant scene-stealer Griffin Dunne as 
Jack Goodman, making WEREWOLF a sublime buddy flick... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, brian glover, cult, david naughton, david schofield, eighties, england, griffin dunne, horror, jenny agutter, john landis, john woodvine, lila kaye, michael carter, monster, thriller, werewolf

JOHN LANDIS UNLEASHES 'AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON'

Title: AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Year: 1981 Rating: ***** Shame there were such bland DVD covers after years that finally made AN AMERI...

PETER O'TOOLE IN 'THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1960</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In this classy, turn of the Century-set British heist film, Aldo Ray plays an American joining with would-be Irish Revolutionaries to knock off the titular 
location, and the best moments occur in the planning stages as the giant Yank learns the innards of the immense, seemingly impenetrable bank-fortress from a personal tour by Peter O'Toole, playing an extremely nice lieutenant of the bank's troop of marching guards...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA0uJ3kefnrDprMetVCsMjtkPtU04TebhsMyC23Ra4z1N8_jhxaDjreIHbgmDctC2oHXhVlVZ6BcU_oqzlEFHMCW9DEmoJwiZszylVaJYOIXcMAAVQZHZps1US9EOnoXLg4mTpcy4X8Wt/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-07+at+11.22.50+PM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="799" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA0uJ3kefnrDprMetVCsMjtkPtU04TebhsMyC23Ra4z1N8_jhxaDjreIHbgmDctC2oHXhVlVZ6BcU_oqzlEFHMCW9DEmoJwiZszylVaJYOIXcMAAVQZHZps1US9EOnoXLg4mTpcy4X8Wt/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-07+at+11.22.50+PM.jpeg" width="263"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robbed the Bank of England SCORE: ****</u></td></tr>
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O'Toole's not the main star but has a genuine arc: his affable persona, giving away any 
and all secrets to an all-ears thief feigning style and class, sharpens as he begins to catch on during the crest of the second act, intensifying into a 
more familiar, edgy and intense character for O'Toole to embrace (and that he'd play later on).<br>
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Meanwhile, the
 pace slows during a filler romance between Ray and the only female plotter, and the 
most time's spent during the usual digging of the tunnel — the kind you 
mostly see in prison films breaking out while here they're attempting 
to break in: And the cast also includes veteran actor Albert Sharpe as a sewer dwelling bum that unknowingly provided the groundwork; Kieron Moore as the mouthiest and youngest Irishman, a thankless role and the only antagonist of sorts; and Elizabeth Sellers as the pouty (and much too old) ingenue in this semi-obscure gem directed by John Guillermin, and that famously laid the 
groundwork for O'Toole's career: After viewing one scene, David Lean knew he had his LAWRENCE OF ARABIA despite the dark features and a
 straight, hawkish nose that would soon be altered.<br>

aldo ray, british new wave, caper, elizabeth sellars, england, heist, john guillermin, kieron moore, peter o'toole, sixties, thriller

PETER O'TOOLE IN 'THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND'

Year: 1960 In this classy, turn of the Century-set British heist film, Aldo Ray plays an American joining with would-be Irish Revolution...

LEONARD NIMOY TEAMS WITH SUSAN HAMPSHIRE FOR 'BAFFLED!'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfWSmdroK4e2e351R37cOTUg0cF38VOlsA5AlAeWclaN0LmuHWW30A8FGNeG7mY2Ic0WAAbJ0jYit8usdVkMHcx--QU-DmFaKGjhKLEeC5dI8N-KVMBnzLHLjRVPFk9S1pKdVw5kRxueOi8o8lv32E5mqFbZSWlWYioqs2zj43PBkhzCghjUCF4-RqzA=s1497" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="1497" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfWSmdroK4e2e351R37cOTUg0cF38VOlsA5AlAeWclaN0LmuHWW30A8FGNeG7mY2Ic0WAAbJ0jYit8usdVkMHcx--QU-DmFaKGjhKLEeC5dI8N-KVMBnzLHLjRVPFk9S1pKdVw5kRxueOi8o8lv32E5mqFbZSWlWYioqs2zj43PBkhzCghjUCF4-RqzA=w400-h311" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leonard Nimoy in BAFFLED! Year: 1972 Score: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Leonard Nimoy in a TV-pilot with sophisticated beauty Susan Hamphire as an ESP expert aiding Nimoy's famous race car driver to channel visions of a veteran actress murdered in a castle where he, reluctantly at first, takes on the case...  <br>
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BAFFLED! has all the elements of a good mystery but without enough doomed tension. And yet it works from the affable chemistry between Nimoy and Hampshire, brightening up the surrounding ensemble of Agatha Christie-like suspects including a tempestuous Rachel Roberts; Vera Miles as the possibly doomed starlet; and scene-stealing Jewel Blanch as a childlike pre-teen whose personality morphs into a creepy, possessed teenager. Making the best scenes a "Spock verses THE EXORCIST" kind of thing, and a year earlier. But it's really Susan Hampshire's ride. She energetically tackles the part as if it were truly the beginning of an assured series. In fact this "movie" ends with their next case shaping up. Sadly, it was her show to lose.<br>

british, england, ensemble, exploitation, horror, jewel blanch, leonard nimoy, mystery, rachel roberts, seventies, susan hampshire, team-up, thriller, tv movie, vera miles

LEONARD NIMOY TEAMS WITH SUSAN HAMPSHIRE FOR 'BAFFLED!'

Leonard Nimoy in BAFFLED! Year: 1972 Score: *** Leonard Nimoy in a TV-pilot with sophisticated beauty Susan Hamphire as an ESP expert aiding...

VENETIA STEVENSON INVESTIGATES 'THE CITY OF THE DEAD'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Venetia Stevenson studies THE CITY OF THE DEAD Year: 1960</u></td></tr>
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Style over substance, THE CITY OF THE DEAD involves a terrific old Massachusetts locale in modern times (with a burned-witch intro) resembling the village from James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN: fitting since the Brits' own Monster, Christopher Lee, plays a professor who recommends his hottest student in blonde beauty Venetia Stevenson literally study-up on the town's use of witchcraft...<br>
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But her character Nan Barlow is more ambitious than smart, lacking common sense to return home after a frightened gas station attendant warns her to... return home. From there she picks up a mysterious hitchhiker that, once arriving in town, vanishes before her eyes. But she's got a paper to do, and her forty-minute screen-time is liken to Janet Leigh in the same year's PSYCHO, which opened a week earlier...<br>

actress, christopher lee, cult, england, horror, occult, patricia jessel, sixties, thriller, venetia stevenson

VENETIA STEVENSON INVESTIGATES 'THE CITY OF THE DEAD'

Venetia Stevenson studies THE CITY OF THE DEAD Year: 1960 Style over substance, THE CITY OF THE DEAD involves a terrific old Massachuset...

DANA ANDREWS AND JEANNE CRAIN BACK FOR 'DUEL IN THE JUNGLE'

action, adventure, british, dana andrews, david farrar, england, fifties, import, jeanne crain, team-up, walter gotell, wilfrid hyde-white

DANA ANDREWS AND JEANNE CRAIN BACK FOR 'DUEL IN THE JUNGLE'

DUEL IN THE JUNGLE Year: 1954 Rates: **** "Destiny seems to insist on throwing us together," a persistent and cocky Dana Andrews ...

CONNECTING 'STAR WARS' WHILE REVIEWING 'THE DAM BUSTERS'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyiHYbrBOoiD8OUeql0bn4wN-FyxypfuFp3alml77_yKOhG4zaYAHUkaY4FnRmX_CbDcJNoNSIluBQE0OrX-FgWf4xpwAFpLL1Pw9Iy8AuycgEo-rLKFKYGBvRqaxRk-L1Akhw-UnNnyv4/s1600/a83a7fadf0f3f5e7892b8a9b91a152e4+2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="498" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyiHYbrBOoiD8OUeql0bn4wN-FyxypfuFp3alml77_yKOhG4zaYAHUkaY4FnRmX_CbDcJNoNSIluBQE0OrX-FgWf4xpwAFpLL1Pw9Iy8AuycgEo-rLKFKYGBvRqaxRk-L1Akhw-UnNnyv4/s400/a83a7fadf0f3f5e7892b8a9b91a152e4+2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Titlte: THE DAM BUSTERS Year: 1955 Rates: ***<br></u></td></tr>
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Director Michael Anderson's LOGAN'S RUN is a sci-fi classic with special effects that were blown away a year later by STAR WARS... But Anderson had something on George Lucas since two decades earlier, his WWII flick THE DAMN BUSTERS gave STAR WARS its Death Star dogfight finale...<br>
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DAM begins with a determined, talky Michael Redgrave as Doctor B. N. Wallis coming up with a plan that is so dissected up front it gets a bit tedious, and perhaps intentionally irritating, as various tests keep failing and failing. Which is to have low-flying planes (the pilots equipped with a Lucasfilm-familiar moveable targeting-view-screen) drop bombs that wind up "rock-skipping" across a long stretch of water until exploding at the wall of, ultimately, a German dam — to succeed, they <i>must</i> hit the <i>sweet spot</i>...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Shaw prepares The Dam Busters flight </u></td></tr>
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Once the bomb is dropped, the planes, like STAR WARS' X-Wing fighters, fly up and veer off diagonally as the pilots, led by Richard Todd's Wing Commander Guy Gibson (with a non-famous Robert Shaw as one of his men), turns to look at the target (with the dam visible outside the cockpit window) in a similar fashion... relieved if hit, morose if missed... as the Rebel Rogue pilots. While historically this is far, far more important, Lucas provides an edgier, more vibrant, hearty and spontaneous pace... <br>
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Other problems concerning DAM BUSTERS (besides Gibson's black lab being named... The N-Word, which is spoken around twenty times) is the lack of suspense after each plane attempts glory. Despite several misses, the near-victory feels obvious, predictable. But what's really distracting are the flashes of cartoon-like ground-fire from Germans below that, sticking to our comparison, dart forward like lasers coming off The Death Star canons or Tie Fighters. Only here there aren't any German planes to dodge and blast. It's only those three damn dams, making it difficult for the audience to keep score, or know exactly <i>what</i> is going on. Only why.  <br>

bio, england, michael anderson, michael redgrave, robert shaw, star wars, war, world war II

CONNECTING 'STAR WARS' WHILE REVIEWING 'THE DAM BUSTERS'

Titlte: THE DAM BUSTERS Year: 1955 Rates: *** Director Michael Anderson's LOGAN'S RUN is a sci-fi classic with special effects t...

THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr>
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It's cozy how Frank Martin and his dad converse, back and forth; like TRANSPORTER was REFUELED from a previous venture and we know the characters already... But Jason Statham is nowhere to be found and this unanticipated reboot plays out like its very own cable series pilot where the title says it all: Martin is a special agent who can take things from one place to another, without fear or hesitation...<br>

2015, action, england

THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED

year: 2015 It's cozy how Frank Martin and his dad converse, back and forth; like TRANSPORTER was REFUELED from a previous venture an...

THE KING'S SPEECH

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZK7k3P7IBV6-DePLWKSlTsaNX9np43A0PQHo8ViLK6uJwRwR_M5Gi4H-Zf_QFf8MbRgISMUEkVYIv17KEY4soLQG1nRo22tQHYxxzkiIvbKv2GxnvfUBZU5EfYCDI8_kBZs3ePjEf1v0/s1600/kings-speech2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610415845171430050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZK7k3P7IBV6-DePLWKSlTsaNX9np43A0PQHo8ViLK6uJwRwR_M5Gi4H-Zf_QFf8MbRgISMUEkVYIv17KEY4soLQG1nRo22tQHYxxzkiIvbKv2GxnvfUBZU5EfYCDI8_kBZs3ePjEf1v0/s200/kings-speech2.jpg" style="float: right; height: 193px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2010<b> rating: </b>***1/2</td></tr>
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Having won the big Oscars: best picture, best director, and best actor, the simplicity of this film will surprise you. Playing like a knighted KARATE KID, it’s a feel-good teacher/student movie with style, class, and superb performances: A remarkably channeled Colin Firth, as the stuttering/stammering Prince George, can’t give a speech – a medium especially important in the age of 1930’s radio. This is a predicament his wife, played with subtle charm by Helena Bonham Carter, seeks aid for in failed stage actor Lionel Logue, who’s garnered a successful reputation in speech therapy by Geoffrey Rush, basked in an earthy, streetwise, guru-like aura, portrays Logue with a gentle, yet thorough, patience for this virtuous new student, who, despite his important lineage, is downright stubborn and pigheaded. The best parts are the initial “courtships” between George (nicknamed “Bertie”) and Logue, the first not wanting help and the latter keeping at it. The actual lessons, once underway, are shown in a creative montage. Then a peripheral element involving George’s flaky brother, newly crowned King Edward, takes away from the personal mainline story but matters more after Edward, choosing love over hierarchy, hands his title to George: who now needs a teacher more than ever.<br />
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The climax is the big speech, as England wages war on Hitler’s Germany. And when George, with his "coach" by his side, sits before a looming microphone: it feels like one of many cinematic underdog-versus-antagonist bouts: but with a bit more social, and a lot more historic, overall significance.

biopic, colin firth, courtroom drama, england, geoffrey rush, helena bonham carter, oscar nominated, tens